1966 help...

[lwilliams374]

First of all im new here and look forward to posting lots of questions as my father and i get ready to restore a 66 Roadster that he has owned since 67.

Brief history, he purchased from a father who had given the car to his son for college. Grades went down, wealthy father took it back and sold it to my dad for 2400.00.

Ive emailed the NCRS several times on this car, but we havent had time to get under there to scribe the #s on the engine block and trans.

We did verfiy that it was an early 66 model. What we have found with this car, is that it has the '65 327/365 solid lifters in it. He bought the car with around 5-7k miles on it. Since he knew the previous owner, he knows the car never popped an engine or had it replaced.

I have searched everywhere to see if other cars had this combo, but only came across rumors of these existing.

Before a serious car accident, my brother was on a sales call and ended up talking to a guy who worked in the factory. He confirmed that they did do a few combinations like this. Unfortunately until my brother brain injury heals, he just cant recall the guys name at this time.

Dad just told me tonight that the fuel tank actually holds the key to confirm everything. We will be dropping it to see what the factory says the car was supposed to have.

Has anyone ever seen this combo around? Any reference info to validity? I questioned his memory again tonight and got yelled at "i adjusted those lifters enough to know what engine it is!". I asked him if the orig engine was popped and replaced with the 65 and he told me that he knew all the history to it. SO out the window that went.

He still wants to put factory PS and PB in, but i told him if his car is really this rare that he is NOT doing that.

Look forward to comments and suggestions!

Les

 

[lwilliams374]

Was it...

common for the dealer to change out the cam/lifters?

 

[Ron Miller]

Also, don't believe dropping the tank will tell you anything. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't until 1967 that the build sheets were placed on the top of the gas tanks. But, I sure hope you prove me wrong!

rlm

:cool

 

[lwilliams374]

Doh!

Ill tell dad that the build sheet might not be there.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Les Welcome to our forum.First and foremost I hope your brother does well with his recover.I had a seisure september 17th of 95 and the brain is a real cool organ it does all kinds of stuff to make it self work again proper.

As for the car They definatly did not put tank sticker on untill 1967 so if you were pulling the tank only for that reason dont waste your time.

As for the motor do you understand what information the guys are asking for ? Not only can they tell what motor you have but if its the correct motor that came with the car as long as you have been the secound owner from 1967.the other peice of information is the numbers off the trim tag.specifilly the date the car was built or give them the vin and they can aproimate when the car was born.Again welcome and enjoy and keep up the faith for your brother

 

[lwilliams374]

yep...

i understand the info. Will get it as fast as i can. I appreciate the info on the gas tank. This will be as close to 100% frame up as we can go on the restoration so the tank will get removed anyways. This should be a fun project. I will definitely post the #s once we get them. Mom wants the vette done!

Thanks for the kind words on my brother. It was a little different not having him around for the holidays. I wasnt much in the spirit of things this year. Hopefully next year will be better.

Les

 

[65TripleBlack]

williams374:

Build sheets were not affixed to the tank ("tank sticker") until very late '66.
If that is a true 365 SHP engine, then it will have the "6 quart" oil pan, which makes installation of P/S impossible. P/S was not offered with L76 (or L84) for this reason. Also, the steering dampener could not be used with L76/L84.

Joe

 

[lwilliams374]

Appreciate the help.

He just found his paperwork and the guy still lives in Vero Beach Florida. I am also tracking down Pensacola BuggyWorks which is now part of the Chevy dealer to see if by some dumbluck chance they still have history/paperwork on this thing.

Dad has been in the car business for 35 yrs and didnt realize the build sheets were not on the vette tanks until 67. He says thanks for clarifying it all.

 

[JohnZ]

Would like to have the following numbers from the engine to dope out what it really is:

1. Block casting number - on driver's side, rear bellhousing flange of block, behind/below back of cylinder head; will be a seven-digit number (raised number, not stamped).

2. Block casting date - similar location, but on the passenger side; will be a letter, one or two numbers, and one number (raised number, not stamped).

3. Stamped numbers from the machined pad on the block just in front of the passenger side cylinder head; there will be a seven-digit number (3/16" font) where the last six match the last six on the VIN plate below the glove box, and there will be an engine plant code (1/4" font) starting with an "F", followed by four numbers (month and day) and two letters (engine suffix code).

With those numbers and the VIN number, we can verify what you have.

 

[lwilliams374]

thanks johnz..

Will get that info as soon as possible. This is gonna be a fun project!

 

[Tyler Townsley]

NCRS Winter Regional will be held at Oldtown 21-25 Jan. and since that is just down the interstate from you it would be a good place to get questions answered. Probably well worth the time and dollars to join NCRS and participate in the judging/schools that will be offered at the meet.

Tyler Townsley

 

[Denney]

I am definitely interested in finding out the real story on the engine numbers myself. If it is all original, I suspect that either someone did a cam swap or your father may only be remembering an adjustment on the lifter preload on the hydraulic valve train... Please do keep us posted...

 

[lwilliams374]

will do...

the key is getting in touch with the orig owner that dad still knows where he lives ... and dad said he has the window sticker in a box in the garage. Well the garage is loaded with sh*t everywhere lol.

He had talked to a few guys back in the late 60s and they said several 65 engines were leftover and stuck in the 66s. This was backed up to my little brother when he talked to a guy that worked on the line also. But its all heresay until we can prove it.

i was talking to dad the other day with all the info i found out with everyones advice, suggestions, and comments... and he called the lifters by name or maybe it was the cams... i cant remember...long day watchin collegefootball with beer... lol

Anyways...i asked him are you sure the cams didnt get swapped...and he said he was given the history of the car when he bought it...of course its in one of those 5000 boxes in the attic, garage, and warehouse.